Wands and Kunai
by baynard
Summary: Konoha gets some otherworldly visitor, and not the kind that comes from another planet. How will a young war hero turned mercenary chasing his foe across dimensional borders adjust to life in a world of Shinobi? Naturally, by clinging to everything that composes his magical identity of course. Some people expect to adjust for the world, others expect the world to adjust for them.
1. Chapter 1

Hana Inuzaka stared up at the full moon in the sky, enjoying the peacefulness of her village in nighttime. She liked to take an evening walk alone when she had the chance, a ritual she'd had since she was old enough to be allowed out of the compound on her own. Her dogs as a habit were left behind in the house, one of the few times she wasn't surrounded by the excitable triplets. It was an odd trait of hers, most Inuzaka were inseparable from their partners, but then again she had three energetic dogs instead of one or two. It was nice to have some peace and quiet to herself, even if only for half an hour or so.

The seventeen year old tracking specialist hummed a tune to herself as she walked, allowing her mind to wander as her feet carried her along the same path she took every time. Things were changing. Kiba had finally graduated and was now an official shinobi of the village, so she got to spend even less time with her little brother. With both kids now considered legal adults, the Inuzaka Matriarch had returned to more active duty meaning her mom was also missing a lot. It saddened Hana somewhat to see her family drift apart like that, but such was the way of life.

The friends she had thought she'd have forever at the academy had all went on to lead their own lives, some having flunked out and never making the cut, others dead on one mission or another. Of the few that were still active shinobi, Hana only occasionally crossed paths with and when she did they seemed to only exchange polite greetings and inane chit chat.

Hana had never been particularly close to her own genin squad mates. Both of them were reliable enough, but their personalities had never really clicked. She'd been the first to make it to chunin, and as a consequence of her tracking specialty was often taken off to aid in the missions of higher ranked shinobi. The other two had eventually made chunin as well, Tazo now a regular part of the border guard patrol and Shinobu having vanished into ANBU black ops.

The kunoichi sighed as she stared down at her feet. It seemed everyone around her was slowly moving away, and while she knew it was a consequence of life rather than anything to do with her personally, it still saddened her to see it. Hana had her own goals she wanted to reach, namely saving up enough to start her own veterinary, but that seemed like a rather hallow life without friends and family.

She supposed she could try to find a mate, a lot of girls her age seemed eager to be married off and start popping out little ones, but she hadn't met anyone to her tastes. Not to say she didn't get her fair share of dates or offers, but she'd never met a guy who could keep his eyes above her chest for long, or indeed his hands to himself. Maybe she just had bad luck with men.

A sharp crackling noise caught her ear and she immediately snapped out of her funk, senses fully alert. Her eyes darted towards the darkened alleyway where the noise had originated from, a shadowy corridor of brick and mortar.

Slipping a kunai into her hand, she advanced cautiously, careful to mask her presence in case there was trouble and she needed to intervene.

There was a mesmerizing cloud of light dancing between a dirty ten foot wall and an overflowing trash bin. Arcs of lightning periodically jumped about between the motes of light, increasing the illumination with a sizzling sound. The air reeked of an odd odor, unlike anything Hana had ever smelled before, and if she squinted at the specks hard enough she could see an image of someplace else superimposed over the area as if a translucent picture was slowly snapping into focus.

Before Hana could decide exactly what course of action to take next, there was a terrifying crack, and she was momentarily blinded by sudden flash. Blinking back tears in her eyes, Hana managed to catch a glimpse of two people in the alleyway that had most definitely not been there before.

Both figures appeared to be unsteady on their feet judging by the way they swayed, but one recovered faster than the other. They let loose a howl that raised the hair on the back of the kunoichi's neck, backhanding the other mystery person into the wall with a horrific crunch.

The violent individual turned their head towards Hana and in an instant was upon her. The chunin found herself forced on her back, a large clammy hand with unnaturally long fingers wrapped tightly around her throat, the other pinning down the hand holding the kunai.

Stars exploded in her vision as the hand around her throat constricted. Her assailant leaned in close, hissing something in an odd language, his foul breath stinking with the rot of decaying flesh. A long rasping tongue flickered out and ran itself along the edge of her jaw, sending a shiver down her spine.

Hana swore something fierce in her mind, bringing a knee up repeatedly into her attackers abdomen, feeling something give with a satisfying crunch. Channeling chakra into her free hand, she allowed the energy to strengthen the sharp nails she kept for this exact occasion. Five claw like tips ripped into her opponents face, leaving a trail of deep bloody tracks across the pale skin, cutting deep into the soft epidermal tissue.

Still the grip did not relent, if anything it strengthened the more she hurt him. Hana found herself jerked up and slammed bodily against the floor, the repeated motion making her head swim. As a kunoichi she knew down to the very second how long her body could operate without oxygen, and she was fast approaching the point where she would begin to lose strength with her airways cut off. She needed to end this fast.

Stomping on the trigger on the sole of her heel that activated the hidden knife switch on her sandals, Hana kicked upwards with the blade. Her aim was true and the shoe blade found itself into her attacker's groin, drawing out a satisfying shriek of pain. Twisting her foot viciously, Hana found herself suddenly sailing through the empty space, her opponent having opted to throw her through the air to stop her from doing any more damage.

Gasping for precious oxygen, Hana scrambled to her feet, trying to force her exhausted body to gather the chakra for the beast transformation that would allow her to use her more powerful offensive techniques. However being able to breathe again wasn't enough for an immediate recovery, and her adversary proved quite tolerant of pain.

Once more she found herself on her backside with her assailant on top, though this time she managed to grab both his hands before he could get to her neck again. Now that she could see her attacker more clearly, it was apparent that whatever he was, he was most certainly not a normal human. His pale sallow face resembled a fresh corpse that had enough indications that it had once been a living person, but could never be mistaken for anything that still drew air. The rents she had torn into his face was already rapidly fading, and the hungry look in his blood red eyes screamed of murderous lust bordering on sexual in his frenzy.

He opened his mouth, a gaping maw that was unnaturally wide, hissing in that strange language again. Hana could not help but notice the massive elongated canines of his rotting teeth, wicked curved things that jutted out like a viper's fang. She pressed a knee into his chest, pushing him back enough so that his snapping jaws just missed her neck by centimeters, though the closeness of the man made her want to vomit.

There was a flash of red light and her attacker was suddenly off her, blown away by some unseen force. Hana didn't question her luck, scrambling backwards quickly to try to put space between her and the unnatural man that had been attacking her. He crouched on the ground on all fours like an animal, crimson eyes narrowed as it glared at something behind her.

Hana chanced a glance backwards and saw the other person that had arrived earlier, somehow back on their feet. Her quick appraisal showed a man with rather foreign looking features, a mess of dark hair framing green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. He was favoring one side of his body, his posture suggesting to her healer trained eyes that he had a few busted ribs. The raised hand holding the stick that was glowing at the tip was steady though, and his steps did not waver as he advanced.

Her savior shouted something in that strange language the creature had hissed at her. The creature got to its feet and it's more unusual features seemed to fade leaving a more normal if not extremely pale man behind. It said something soft in reply and laughed darkly, gesturing around it.

Emerald eyes flickered towards Hana briefly as she slowly got to her feet. She didn't know if he was friend or foe, but seeing as he wasn't the one who had jumped to attack her the minute he laid eyes on her, Hana was willing to give him the benefit of doubt. The kunoichi turned to face their adversary.

The unnatural man surged forward, causing Hana to tense, but her dark haired savior barked something and the creature slammed into a shimmering force field. The Inuzaka fingered a few kunai, preparing to throw them, noting that the tip of her ally's stick had changed to a cool blue, similar to the color of the barrier in place.

The man creature pulled back, prodding the shimmering light field here and there, testing it for weakness. Calm blue light flickered at his touch, but did not falter. It gave another sinister chuckle, taking a step backwards. Right before her eyes, he seemed to dissolve into a cloud of bats, the winged vermin scattering and taking off through the night air.

Hana couldn't help but stare. That was not like any jutsu she had ever seen or heard of, and she was fairly certain it wasn't genjutsu either.

The sound of a body hitting the floor drew her attention back to her savior, the man having apparently exhausted the last of his reserves in their defense. She hurried over to the still man, turning him over to check his breathing and pulse. A quick superficial survey showed that her original hunch had been correct, a busted rib, and judging by his labored breathing probably a bone fragment poking at his lungs. She'd have to get him to a hospital quick if she wanted answers.

"Stay strong stranger," she murmured. "You and I have much to speak of."

**AN: Yeah I know, I got a handful of other stories still going with the promise of finishing, so why am I starting another one?! Good question…but hey it's written so why not post it? Please let me know what you guys think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: A more warm welcome than expected. Here's Round 2!**

"I know I've been telling you to try to find a man Hana-chan, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

The Inuzaka tried hard not to roll her eyes at her longtime friend's amused tone. Nigashi Katsumi had been the girl next door and her playmate for as long as she could remember. A short petite dark haired youth was smiling back at the shinobi, hands on her hips in mock disapproval.

They'd gone to the academy together, though Katsumi had never graduated despite having excellent chakra control. All her mental evaluations indicated she was ill fitted for the psychologically traumatizing tasks most shinobi would be forced to undertake. Instead she had been transferred to an apprenticeship with the hospital when the higher ups decided front line duties would not be in the Nigashi daughter's future.

"I don't need a man, I need answers!" Hana said, tapping a finger against her crossed arms impatiently. "I take it he's going to live judging by your smile?"

"Oh he'll do more than that," Katsumi replied with a nod. "He must have a blood limit of some sort, or perhaps a freak genetic mutation. We've never seen an ability to regenerate quite like his. Once his the ribs were back in place, he started mending right up even without any help from doctor. The left tibia and right ulnar radius show indications that it might have healed on its own while you were dragging him through the streets. Physically, we expect he'll be ready to be back on his feet within the day, though when he might actually wake up is questionable."

"Good. Whoever he is, I've got some questions about that thing that attacked me."

Hana shivered as she recalled clammy hands wrapped around her throat. Whatever that creature had been, it was a menace that needed to be tracked down and killed.

"What happened Hana?" Katsumi asked with concern in her eyes.

The brunette's strong empathy was one of the reason she had been disqualified from even taking the genin exams, and a part of the kunoichi was glad Katsumi had never been exposed to the dirtier side of protecting their village.

Hana nodded at the patient room where their mystery guest was currently resting. "That guy and another person popped up in an alleyway I was walking by. He saved my skin from the other one. Whoever or whatever that thing had been, he was dangerous. Too dangerous to allow to wander in Konoha."

"Have you reported it?" the nurse asked with alarm.

"I have," Hana replied. "ANBU has been alerted to keep an eye out for the description, and the Hokage has been notified as well. I'm to hold a meeting with him first thing in the morning."

"Hmm, well I'm sure they'll handle it," Katsumi replied with a bright grin. "On another note, I really think you should give this guy a chance! He might be the one you're looking for."

Hana stared at her friend in disbelief. "And on what criteria are you judging this supposed compatibility on? For one thing, he's unconscious, and even if he weren't I'm fairly certain whatever language he was speaking in you don't understand, cause I sure as hell didn't recognize it."

The nurse chuckled, winking slyly at the Inuzaka. "All that other stuff you can find out later, what I'm talking about is the gear he's packing around his waist."

The kunoichi flushed at Katsumi's conspiring tone. "What?! Why would you-?!"

"I'm his nurse," the petite Nigashi retorted. "I have to check him for injuries everywhere you know, and I mean evvvverrrrywheeerrre."

"Oh my god," Hana groaned. "I am not listening to this!"

"Well you should. They said a well-endowed man can keep his woman happier than a thousand love letters, and judging by his size he could keep half the women in this village happy…all at once."

Hana blushed and waved her friend away, too embarrassed to even reply as she laughed.

"Besides it's not like he's bad looking," Katsumi continued as she followed Hana away from the patient's room. "Exotic is definitely in right now."

"Katsumi, I really don't care," Hana groaned.

Just the thought of her last date left a bad taste in her mouth. Honestly did some men really think a bouquet of flowers and some honeyed words would be enough to get her to drop her panties for them?

"I'm just saying Hana, sex is a healthy part of being alive, and I don't mean the kind that involves your own hand or toys. You should really let a man take care of your needs once in a while!"

Hana flushed as a pair of older nurses chuckled as they caught wind of their conversation.

"She's not wrong dear!" called out the older of the two as they walked past.

"See, they agree!" Katsumi exclaimed gleefuly. "When are you going to let some lucky guy pop that carefully guarded cherry of yours?"

"One, the chances of my cherry not having popped on its own from the sheer amount of physical activity I put myself through is as close to practically 0. Two, I'm not just going let some guy put his hands all over me just because! I need a real relationship, you know, commitment? Love? That ringing a bell to you?"

"We all want love," the nurse replied unabashedly. "But that's not going to land in your lap if you're not willing to take some risks. Besides, when you do find the man you want to be with, don't you want to be able to keep him happy?"

"I think he'd be a lot happier knowing he's the only guy who's ever got his hands on me," Hana fired back. "And plus, I'm a fast learner, I-"

A poof of smoke in front of them cut her off before she could finish. Katsumi gave a squeak of fright at the unexpected arrival of the masked ANBU member.

"Inuzaka, Hana?" the voice from behind the polished face plate was hollow and devoid of emotion, just like every other special division operative.

Hana stepped forward. "That's me. Did you need something?"

"Come with me, the Hokage wishes to speak with you," he replied, turning to leave.

"I thought my meeting was tomorrow morning?" she asked, confused.

The bear mask ninja cast a sightless glance back at her. "There has been some…complications."

Hana felt her stomach drop. Complications were never a good thing, not when the word was used by shinobi.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: WARNING – THINGS GET KINDA GRAPHIC, HEADS UP FOR SQEAMISH PEOPLE though honestly if you are, I dunno why you're reading a rated M horror fanfiction lol let me know what you guys think**

The complications turned out to be in the form of two dead bodies in a corner of a back alley between a weapons shop and a sushi restaurant. A pair of young civilian lovers had apparently couldn't wait until getting home to get frisky and slipped into a dark spot to have a bit of privacy after a moonlit stroll. Unfortunately, someone or something had apparently found them.

Before she even laid eyes on the ghastly scene, her nose warned her of the unpleasantness she was about to face. Hana was no stranger to death; it came with being a shinobi. She'd seen more than her fair share of dead bodies, lent a helping hand in making more than she cared to remember. Still she tried to be as clean and clinical as possible when taking life, a trait most ninja seemed to subconsciously share. The two corpses before her could not be described as anything short of utterly violated, the ghoulish artwork of a madman.

The boyfriend had had his head torn clean from his shoulders, and Hana was fairly certain that it hadn't been done by a blade. A sharp edge would have left an even cut, even if the blade had been dull or serrated it would have been cleaner than this. Uneven damage of the flesh around the neck area coupled with the stringy meat that had been stretched out from parts of the wound suggested it have been torn off through brute strength. Bits of spine poked out from the stump, dragged upwards by the sheer power of the assailant that had wrenched off the poor man's head.

His face was frozen in a look of absolute terror, the head was placed neatly in the lap of the slumped body, as if the perpetrator had some odd sense of decorum when it came to murder. Strangely there wasn't very much blood at the crime scene given the fact that someone had their head pulled off their neck.

The woman lay sprawled on her back a few feet away, glassy lifeless eyes staring up at the dark skies. It was apparent by the way her kimono had been undone at the bottom and the bloodied mess that was her private area that she had suffered an unspeakable violation before her death. Hana could not help but stare in morbid fascination at the fingerlike welts along the woman's neck, and a gory wound that was roughly the size of a man's mouth on the right side.

Her own fingertips unconsciously reached up to brush against the bruising around her own throat. She looked away from the female corpse. Had that been her fate had the stranger not chased the monster away? An involuntary shudder threatened to break her composure.

The Inuzaka observed the activity around her in somewhat of a haze, her brain observing the scene from a seemingly third person perspective. A part of Hana recognized it as shock, every ninja experienced it at some point in their career.

There were dozens of shinobi milling about securing the crime scene, most of them ANBU. A pair of ninja bearing the police force marker on their uniforms were conferring with each other in quiet tones, occasionally gesturing at the bodies or the pattern of blood in a certain area, no doubt trying to piece together what happened. An ash faced man was rapidly snapping photos of the scene, looking as ill as Hana felt, but somehow pushing on despite the stomach revolting carnage before them.

Standing a little bit behind all the hustle and bustle, out of the way but still within distance to give commands was the Sandaime Hokage. The elderly shinobi looked more like someone's doting grandfather than a man who could probably still massacre half the village if he got it in his head to give it a try. Sarutobi Hiruzen had never been particularly tall or imposing looking, but his appearance had never been necessary to intimidate anyone. Just his fearsome reputation alone had guarded their village from attack for decades despite his age.

When he gestured for her, Hana automatically came closer, inclining her entire body at the waist in a respectful bow. This man was the ruler of arguably the most powerful village in the elemental nations, her commander in chief who had seen the rise and fall of every single Hokage before and after him. Without him, Konoha would certainly not be where it was today.

"Hana-chan," he greeted gravely. "I had hoped that we might speak in the morning about the trouble you ran into this evening, but it seems that the situation as escalated. You reported that a man that appeared by unknown means had attacked you in the village?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," she replied. "Do you believe he is connected to the crime here?"

"It is a distinct possibility. Your brief report with the policing force indicated that he had strangled you and attempted to bite your neck?"

Hana glanced at the dead woman. In her mind's eye, she could almost see herself laying in the exact same position, neck torn apart and legs opened crookedly in macabre invitation for the world to examine.

She bit back the bile in her throat, turning to face the Hokage. "Yes."

"Do you believe this man might have been capable of what happened here?"

An echo of the creature's sinister hissing, a flash of blood red eyes wild with primal emotion, the stench of death repulsively close to her body, cold unfeeling hands against her flesh. Hana fought back a shudder of revulsion at the unexpected flashback, not wanting to show weakness before her leader.

She licked her dried lips before replying. "The pattern seems to fit what has happened here."

The Hokage's eyes hardened to flint as he turned his gaze back at the two bodies. "Your report also indicated that he nearly overpowered you, but was chased off by this other stranger that had appeared with him?"

"He did something yes, some sort of jutsu that warded off the man. The barrier prevented him from approaching and he fled when it became evident that he could not reach us as long as the shield was in place."

Hana felt her fists tighten as she recalled the insane look in the man creature's eyes as it prowled before her, trying to find a weakness in the blue barrier. Had she been able to take the bastard down maybe these two innocent bystanders might still be alive. This was her fault.

"Do not blame yourself Hana-chan," Hiruzen sternly said.

Flinching slightly at how easily the older man had read her, she looked away. A shinobi was not supposed to show emotions, it was one of the sacred tenants passed down by the Second. She had never been particularly good at following that one.

The Third's gaze softened. He rested a grandfatherly hand on Hana shoulders, gently steering her away from the crime scene. "Your survival gave us a lot more information to work with than had you gone down fighting. Judging by the way the male victim was killed, the murderer is no ordinary man. You have nothing to be ashamed of Hana."

Nodding at his words but not quite believing them, Hana gritted her teeth. "I got a pretty good whiff of his scent Hokage-sama. I can probably help track him if you let me join the ANBU team tasked with chasing him down."

The elderly shinboi smiled grimly and gave a nod of approval. "I'm sure you will be a great asset when the time comes, however we need more information before we settle on a course of action. It sounds like the stranger who came to your aid might know more of this man we are hunting. How soon will we be able to speak with him?"

"They expect a full recovery within the day," she replied, relaying what Katsumi had told her. "When he will regain consciousness is unknown, but his wounds are already mended."

"Alight then. Go home and rest Hana-chan. I will call for you when we have need of your skills."

The chunin gave her leader a shallow bow, dipping her spine enough to be respectful, but keeping her head raised to show that she was not entirely happy about the idea. A part of Hana wanted to stay, to try to help the investigation in what little way she could to ease her own guilt. Indirect though it had been, the kunoichi could not shake the feeling it was her fault somehow. But she knew her skills were next to useless for such a task. They would send for her when there was need for her nose. The best thing she could do now was to go home and try to get some rest so she would be ready when the call came.


	4. Chapter 4

Hana had tossed and turned for what felt like hours before drifting off into uneasy sleep. Her slumber had been plagued by crazed red eyes, the smell of freshly turned earth from the grave and the sensation of something slowly constricting her airways while ominous laughter echoed in the bleak darkness that she was trapped in.

When she was woken from her sleep by a shaking hand, it was understandable that she reacted rather violently. Luckily, her mother wasn't a jounin for no reason, otherwise Hana's clawed fingertips might have found purchase in the poor woman's face. A steely grasp halted her reflexive attack, amber eyes staring back at the chunin in concern

"Mom?" Hana asked rubbing her eyes blearily. "What time is it?"

Inuzaka Tsume was a wild looking middle aged woman who bore all the feral features and clan markings that proudly declared her heritage. Standing side by side, anyone who didn't know them might mistake her to be Hana's sister rather than mother due to her youthful good looks, a point Tsume took great delight in rubbing in her daughter's face.

"It's almost nine in the morning, Hana-chan. I just got home and caught wind that you were attacked. What the hell happened?"

The Inuzaka matriarch looked torn between being worried and being angry. If Hana had trouble controlling her emotions, it was mainly because she was still trying. Tsume made no such attempts on self-restraints; she lived and breathed her emotions. It was one of those odd things about the Inuzaka clan. On one hand, as shinobi they were encouraged to follow the tenants laid down by the second Hokage, the so called rules to being a good ninja. But emotions were what fueled a lot of the Inuzaka clan techniques; the emotional connections to family and pack was what gave them their strength.

No doubt the thought of someone attacking her daughter had Tsume reaching for the war drums. The only reason she was waking Hana up now was that she didn't have someone specific to find and kill. Not yet at any rate.

"I'm fine mom," the kunoichi said, drawing her knees up and crossing her arms over them. Hana shivered as she recalled the mad eyes that had glared down at her, both in memory and dream. Ok that was a lie, but no need for her mother to know that.

The older woman gave her a look of disbelief, clearly not buying it for even a second.

Tsume reached out a hand and pressed her fingers against her neck, the brief contact causing pain to shoot through the affected area. A harsh scowl crossed the stern woman's face, an animalistic growl rumbling from deep in her chest.

"Is that where the bastard-?!"

"Mom, "Hana interrupted. "I'm fine. You raised me to be able to take care of myself remember?"

The older woman softened her sharp gaze. "I suppose I did. That doesn't mean your mom won't tear apart the asshole who touches you daughter without permission."

Hana smiled at her mother's protective tone.

Tsume had always been permissive with her kids, a strong believer in learning through trial and error. She often allowed them to do just about anything they got into their head to try, within reason of course. Because of that many failed to see the fierce protective streak she had. The woman would turn the village upside down to find the creature and Hana did not doubt her mother would win that confrontation.

"He killed two others," the chunin murmured, burying the lower half of her face in her arms. "If I had been faster, or if the boys had been with me, maybe they wouldn't be dead."

"Live life looking forward, not looking back," Tsume chided, pulling Hana into a hug only a mother could give. "And they found another body, so it's actually three now. That we know of anyways."

Hana pulled back scowling. "Damn. What happened?"

"Same as the other two, dead body found in the corner of some building in the early morning. Wound to the side of the neck and the blood drained from the corpse."

The teenager stared at her mother. "Drained?"

"Like a bad ghost story," Tsume said grimly. "Got the details from Anko who was on the scene.

Nothing like anything she's seen before and that woman has seen a lot of grisly stuff, believe me."

There was a sharp rap at her bedroom window and both women turned to see a messenger hawk bearing the Hokage's seal tapping a clawed foot impatiently against the glass. Tsume opened the window and took the message from the bird.

"It's for you," she said, handing the letter over to Hana after a quick glance. "Something about the man you took to the hospital coming around. The Hokage wants you there, seems to think a friendly face might make him loosen his tongue."

Hana rapidly read through the neat script and saw that her mother had adequately summarized the note. Getting up, she changed out of her night clothes and into her shinobi garb, glancing in the mirror to make sure she looked professional. She never cared much for makeup or jewelry, but one's image was important when dealing with other people, especially someone who had answers she was looking for.

"So…is he cute?" Tsume asked with a wicked smile.

"Mom!"

**AN: Introducing Tsume, we'll be getting to Harry (spoilers for those who haven't suspected ;p) next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

The sensation of returning to consciousness was a familiar one. It was different than waking up from slumber, one didn't just click and return to the world of consciousness. It starts off as a distinct awareness that something was off, but you can't quite put your finger on what it was or even bring yourself to really care. Then the senses slowly begin to turn on one by one. It differed every single time, but the brain slowly begins to pick up on the outside stimuli until the world slowly came back into focus.

This time, it was his hearing that came back first, the sound of soft voices speaking in hushed tones, much like one would expect to find in the library. Harry tried to focus on the words being spoken, but found little more than recognition that it was voices making the sounds rather than anything resembling actual communication.

He suddenly felt the sensation of sheets against his figure, the unfamiliar fabric pressing up against parts of his body that should be shielded by cloth, which suggested that he was most probably naked. An arm twitched at his unconscious demand, and the way it held fast suggested he was restrained. Unless this was a return to consciousness after a particularly kinky night with a pretty witch that forgot to undo the restrains from their bedroom activities, it was probably going to be rather unpleasant.

The distinct smell of antiseptic and cleaning fluids that he had come to associate with hospitals and medical wards hit his nose like a truck. Oh yes, his sense of smell had definitely returned. So maybe he wasn't about to wake up in someone's private dungeon, but that still didn't explain the full body restraint treatment.

When consciousness had finally returned fully, Harry decided that it was time to stop beating around the bush. He'd never been good at the stealthy approach, the straightforward method got the job done faster and with more gratuitous amounts of explosions in his experience.

The room was brightly lit, definitely a hospital of some sort and muggle to boot judging by the number of medical display monitors and various instruments meant to poke holes in the human body laying bout. His limbs were locked down to each corner of the bed by heavy belted straps that a human would have no chance chewing through even given all the time in the world. They weren't the chained manacle type where you can't leave the bed, but could move around to get comfortable, but rather the splayed out like a frog waiting to be dissected sorts that allowed for no movement at all. Merlin help him if he got an itch.

There were two people currently present in his room, one was an elderly looking man close to his late sixties garbed in a ceremonial looking white robe with a pointy hat labeled with an Asian symbol of some sort in red. The older man was conversing with a pretty looking brunette woman who was the nurse judging by her uniform. Both of them turned to look at him when he lifted his head off the pillow.

"_Good morning young man, I hope you are feeling better after your ordeal last night," _said the elder.

The foreign sounding words apparently hadn't been his confused mind being unable to connect his ear with the language center of his brains, they just hadn't been speaking English at all. Harry found the words familiar sounding to his ear, not so different from the English subtitled anime that Dudley had been obsessed with at one point in their childhood. Japanese maybe?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you," Harry replied in a raspy voice. "Do you have anyone here who speaks English?"

The nurse and the old man exchanged befuddled looks. Well, that wasn't good sign. It was absolute hubris to think that everyone in the world should know English, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't at least recognize it when it was spoken. Something told Harry he wasn't in Kansas anymore.

"_Well this complicates matters,"_ the old man muttered.

The young woman pressed a button on the side of the bed and Harry found his torso being elevated up as the top half of the bedframe raised itself with the soft whine of hydraulics.

Definitely muggle then, but where on earth could he be that the muggles didn't recognize English? It might have been a forgivable sin for wizards, they did tend to be a bit more insular in some areas of the world, but there was too much technology to even think he wasn't stuck with muggles. Where the hell was he?

A glass of water with a straw was offered to him by his caretaker and Harry gratefully took a sip, rapidly emptying the whole glass in his thirst. He shot her an appreciative smile, earning himself a shy blush in return.

The soft swivel of door hinges drew his attention away from the other two occupants in the room. Another woman entered, trailed by three excited looking dogs that reminded him so much of Sirius that he felt a pang in his chest. Damn, more than half a decade after losing his godfather and it still stung when he thought of it.

The newcomer was rather pretty, the soft adolescent features of her face contrasted by a body blooming into full womanhood. Her curvy frame made it difficult not to stare, blessed with the hourglass proportions that would have been the envy of any model in the world. Her chest was the standard by which millions of women aspired, many forcefully through the use of silicon injections that paled in comparison. There were two curious triangular tattoo like marks on either of her cheeks, but the sharp brown eyes hinted at a fiery personality.

She bowed to the older man in greeting, receiving a nod the head in return. Harry tried, really he did, but what red blooded male could blame him for glancing down the front of that top? Merlin knew even Voldemort probably would have chanced a look if he were still alive to do it. They'd found some pretty risqué photos of Bellatrix of all people in the room of his mansion when they'd ransacked the place after the war. There had been a lot of jokes about the former dark lord's wanking material, though admittedly even a decade and a half in Azkaban couldn't quite make Bellatrix repulsive to be fair.

They began to confer in hushed tones, occasionally shooting him a curious glance as they spoke. Harry frowned, trying to remember what happened to land him in this situation. Blank spots in the memory might be alarming to anyone else, but he'd taken enough hits to the head to recognize temporary memory regression from cranial trauma. The memories would come back eventually, he'd just wish they'd hurry the hell up.

The wizard was fairly certain that he had been commissioned to chase down someone or another. He couldn't recall who it was at the moment, and it was driving him up the wall. Tip of the tongue syndrome was a terrible thing, especially when you were tied down to a bed.

After his defeat of Voldemort and his subsequent inheriting of the title of Master of Death and all the near immortal perks of said title, Harry's particular skillset had been in high demand all over the world. A wizard good with his wand could solve a lot of dark lord or dark lady problems for magical governments; a wizard good with his wand whom death kept rejecting could do a lot more. Harry hadn't had any particular career in mind, quidditch seemed too tame after having rode a motherfucking dragon, so he'd taken the professional hit wizard exam after finding out the next head of the auror department was a cousin of Umbridge. No one could really blame him for that.

Five years into his unique career had gained him a fearsome reputation, and more than one rumor that he truly was immortal. Or that his semen acted as an elixir to life when ingested. Oh yeah, he'd enjoyed that one. It'd be a few years before anyone could disprove it, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be because he said anything about it.

Of course most of it was all exaggeration. While he did have a rather incredible rate of regeneration, most the reports were ludicrous. No he hadn't been blown to bits and had the tiny chunks of himself sown back together, nor had he regrown his body just from a severed head. Hell he didn't even know if he could actually regrow limbs, let alone his head or entire body. The few time he'd had them cut off, he'd stuck it back on and waited for it to reattach which it luckily did.

Harry was pretty damn sure he couldn't survive decapitation despite what anyone else might believe. He did appear to be immune to the killing curse though, he'd eaten more of those things than he cared to count, building a resistance to it of all things. That's right, he was resistant to what was pretty much a death sentence for other people. The first few times they'd acted like stunners, now it barely made his head spin when the neon green light hit him. In fact he liked to let them hit him with it, the shocked looks on their faces were hilarious. Half the time they just surrendered when they saw him shrug off their ace in the hole.

His own initial fears that being Master of Death meant that he'd never age and would have to watch his friends wither with age before dying one by one was unfounded as he did look older than sixteen. Hell, he'd been rather depressed to find his first strand of gray hair last month. For Christ's sake he was only twenty two!

As he pondered upon the circumstances that had landed him in his situation, Harry couldn't help but notice the way the tattooed girl kept shooting him looks. It was a mixture of interest and suspicion, probably warranted since they knew nothing about him, but he sensed a bit more than just circumstantial curiosity there. Harry would have to keep that in mind, he certainly wouldn't mind taking a girl like that for an evening out, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that was the last thing on her mind.

"I take it none of you recognize the language I'm speaking in," he tried again, hoping against hope that maybe the newcomer would be able to catch what he was saying.

That got him a raised eyebrow from the shapely woman, and a grimace from the older man. No luck. Well crap. Harry would have to wait until he was alone to bust out of his restraints and try to figure out where he was, the statute of limitations were pretty clear on no magic in front of muggles. Of course even if they weren't here, the camera in the room might prove problematic if he wanted to keep the magical world hidden and away from prying eyes.

There was a small popping noise and a masked man appeared with a faint cloud of smoke. Harry blinked in surprise at his unexpected entrance, and blinked again when nobody batted an eyelash at the unusual method of entry.

The hawk shaped masked man leaned forward and whispered something into the old man's ear, turning the grimace into a full blown frown. Tugging at his goatee in a show of frustration, the elderly man said something back to the other man causing him to vanish with another pop after making a strange symbol with his hand.

Ok, so maybe these people weren't entirely unaware of the magical world. That certainly increased Harry's options.

The old man said something to the tattooed woman causing her to frown as well. Lots of frowning was never a good thing from his experience. Harry decided to risk it, after all it wasn't doing him no good laying here tied up on the bed. He'd apply liberal amounts of memory charms later if it was necessary.

The man-who-won focused his internal magic, a rather difficult process without a magical foci, though not entirely impossible with enough practice. Certainly he wasn't capable of large scale magics he could pull off with a wand, but some things weren't beyond him.

Transfiguration was one of the hardest wandless magic to perform, even masters would never be able to do more that basic spells without a foci. But Harry had two things going for him. One he was no ordinary wizard, preliminary tests put him in the top one percentile of magical core readings. That was the 1% of all the readings they'd ever taken since they first started recording these things, back when painted druids were still running about chanting spells out in the open against the legions sent by the Roman Empire. Two, he was physically touching the object he was trying to transfigurate, something that made the challenging process a smidgen less difficult.

If Harry had been hoping no one would notice that the leather restraint on his left hand had suddenly turned into a snake, he was sorely disappointed. While the humans had been distracted with their conversation, the dogs had not. The rapid barking of the canines caught their owner's attention, and with unbelievable speed and precision she had managed to cross the space and stick a sharp blade up against Harry's throat, just tickling his jugular vein with the tip of the small triangular knife.

Harry glanced down at the headless adder in his hand, having not even noticed it's dismemberment until he felt the damp spurt of blood on the sheets seep through to his skin.

Damn, she was even quicker than he thought.

"_Hold still or I will kill you,"_ the woman hissed coldly.

Harry didn't need a translator to understand a threat when he heard one. There was just something universal about the human tone when they were trying to send a warning.

He bore his teeth in a smile that he knew some cultures took to be a sign of threat. A quick pulse of magic and the dead snake transformed itself into a beautiful red rose which he offered to the woman threatening to slit his throat.

"You can try sweetheart," Harry said with all the charm he could muster. "But I guarantee you it won't take."

His challenging gaze was met with unwavering determination in her honeyed orbs, though the teasing glimpse of her bosom just outside his field of vision made maintaining eye contact rather difficult. Her lip quivered, her own eyes dipping down somewhat as if daring him to take a peek and giving her an excuse to kill him for it.

Oh he was going to have fun with this one.


	6. Chapter 6

Hana felt her lip twitch involuntarily at the rose offered to her. That was rather unexpected. For an escapee to be able to pull things out of thin air, you'd think the man would prefer to pull a weapon to defend himself with, not a flower to woe a woman.

Yet there it was, a fresh cut red rose that looked like it had been fresh cut but moments before by Inoichi Yamanaka himself. Silently the chunin raised her opinion of the stranger a few notches when he did not chance a glance down at her exposed cleavage. A man who could overrule his lower head was a dangerous foe for a kunoichi.

The sound of the door bursting open followed by the rapid footsteps of two ANBU guards entering filled the room, and from the corner of her eye Hana spotted a third ANBU hanging upside down from outside the window, a handheld crossbow aimed at the bedridden patient.

"It's alright Hana-chan," the Hokage said. "Let the man up."

Hana did as she was told, backing off, but still staring down at her savior with distrust. Green eyes sparkled with amusement, completely unafraid despite the situation he found himself in. The exotic looking stranger turned and beamed at Katsumi, giving the flower in his hand an experimental sniff before offering her the rose instead.

The nurse tittered slightly, accepting the blossom, her characteristic cheeriness unbothered by the tension and threat of violence hanging in the air. Their eyes met for a moment, and both seem to become lost to the world around them, frozen where they respectively stood or laid.

Katsumi suddenly gasped, dropping the flower and raising her hands up to her chest.

"Katsumi!" Hana cried.

Surging forward to defend her friend from whatever attack the man had just pulled, the kunoichi found herself beaten to the punch. A feathered bolt slammed into the bedridden man, punching deep into his neck, jostling his head violently. Blood splattered the covers in a spray of crimson, painting the chalk white sheet red. .

The nurse screamed in shock at the sudden death of her patient, horrified at having witnessed someone murdered before her eyes. Hana halted her movement, grimacing at the stranger's untimely end. There went there only lead they had on the creature.

She turned uncertainly to look at the Hokage for guidance, the older man slightly blocked from view by the two ANBU member who had immediately drawn their swords and placed themselves in the line of fire before their leader when the patient had shown signs of hostility. Oddly, the kunoichi noted that Hiruzen was still calmly watching the man, facial expression unchanged, as if he were expecting something to happen.

There was a short rattling gasp, an intake of breath so desperate it grated on the ears. Hana snapped her head around and stared at the man who should by all rights be dead. But somehow he wasn't.

He made a gurgling sound when he tried to speak, frowning when the words wouldn't form properly. The man reached up for the shaft of the bolt sticking out from the side of his neck, grimacing as the specially designed tip gouged out copious amounts of bloody flesh when he unceremoniously yanked the arrow free.

Hana watched in fascination as the gaping wound on the side of his neck slowly began to shrink, the rivulets of blood pouring out tapping off to a trickle before ceasing altogether.

"Sorry, sorry, many apologies. My fault, need to take words from head. No speak language," the man said as he casually dropped the crossbow bolt onto the floor as if he had just gotten rid of something that had been stuck in his hair.

His atrocious accent would have been funny were he not spitting out mouthfuls of blood as he spoke. The kunoichi saw the ANBU by the window reload and take aim again, no doubt going for the skull this time.

"Wait," ordered the Hokage, stilling the operatives hand at the last second.

"Yes, wait, wait! No hurt! I mean no harm!" said the man as he cringed away from the window, his free hand waiving wildly to ward off the attack. "_Fucking shit! Just because it won't kill me doesn't mean it won't hurt!"_

Hana still couldn't quite tear her eyes away from the now healed wound. It just wouldn't click in her head. When someone had a foot long sharpened arrow punch through the soft tissue of their throat, they died. Period. No exceptions.

But here babbling away in some foreign language was living proof that no, someone was exempt from that universally accepted and very much feared rule.

"What are you?" she blurted.

"I am a, how you say? _Damn blasted Occlumency still haven't sorted through the language. _Words in head, must remember, too different. Need time before speak right. Magic, yes. Me magic!"

The Inuzaka felt her eyebrows shoot up at the odd proclamation. She turned a skeptical gaze to the Hokage, the man's own stony visage giving nothing away. Magic? Sure she'd seen people pull of some amazing slight of hands that seemed magical to the uninformed, but there was always a trick to it. Most those magicians couldn't keep talking after taking a grievous life ending injury.

"You claim to be capable of magic?" the Hokage questioned thoughtfully. "You'll forgive me if I am somewhat skeptical. Perhaps you mean to say that you can make use of chakra? Much of what shinobi are capable of seems magical to those who are unaware of how it is possible to manipulate our life energies."

"Chakra?" the man asked, brows furrowed.

He crossed his pointing and middle finger, uncrossing them as he waved his free hand. The belts and buckles holding down his limbs all unraveled, untwining as if invisible hands were moving them.

"Can chakra do that?" he asked.

The Hokage had watched the display, his own eyebrows climbing. "Yes, though usually we might see chakra strings involved. Very interesting. Who are you stranger?"

"Name, yes, only polite. _Harry Potter_ at your service."

The name sounded foreign to Hana, but then that was hardly surprising giving the man's outlandish appearance. She watched him like a hawk as he rubbed feeling back into his limbs. Just because the Hokage told her to back off didn't mean she wouldn't kill him at the drop of a hat if he showed any signs of hostility.

A silent signal from the leader of the leaf village caused both ANBU in the room to retreat, though the one by the window stayed in a position to take another shot. "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, leader of the leaf village. Forgive us for the less than friendly welcome, but your arrival heralded some unfortunate circumstances that requires some answers if we are to remain civil."

The man frowned, and for a moment Hana wondered if he even understood what had been said to him. It seemed whatever ability he had used to lift their language from Katsumi was somewhat limited. The kunoichi sent a glance at her friend who had recovered somewhat from seeing someone get nailed with a crossbow bolt, though she still looked a bit green.

"Yes, I recall." Green eyes flickered to Hana for a moment. "A fight, you were there."

"Inuzaka Hana," the kunoichi said by introduction at his inquiring gaze.

"Inuzaka…dark alleyway…can't recall. Who was I fighting? Why?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, as if trying to remember something.

"Any information you can give us about that man would be most helpful," the Hokage said. "He has already killed three of our citizens, we need all the information we can get before we track him and confront him."

There was a long moment of silence, Hana feeling her own anger boiling at the thought of the deaths the man creature had wrought. She would make him pay for it, she would personally see to that. Green eyes narrowed and Harry's look of concentration turned into grimace of distaste.

"Lafayette," he growled finally.

The named sounded strange, but somehow fitting for a man not from around this area.

"What is he?" Hana asked quietly. There was no doubt in her mind that that was the right question for surely it hadn't been a normal man.

"He is a blood demon," Harry finally said after struggling to find the words he was looking for. "Strong, fast, cunning, hard to kill, very old. At least four hundred years by our accounts that we know of. Probably older."

Hana stared at the man sitting on the bed, wondering if she had misheard. Four hundred years? That didn't seem possible. The hidden village system wasn't even close to a century yet; four centuries would have predated even the nomadic shinobi clans, extending back to the days when the fire nation was split between the two empires, perhaps even back to when they were still united.

"You say he has killed?" Harry demanded suddenly, as if remembering something important. "You must destroy the bodies! Quickly! Those killed by blood demon rise to walk again if not properly disposed. Cut off head or burn to ashes, must not leave in open."

"The victims return to life?" the Hokage asked startled.

"No," the man replied with a grimace. "Unlife. Walking dead. No thoughts, no feel pain. Only instinct to feed left. Very hard to destroy once returned, resistant to magic. Those killed by returned ones will turn as well. Instantly. Weaker, but still dangerous. Unending cycle if not stopped."

The Hokage turned and snapped orders to the ANBU waiting outside. Hurried footsteps echoed away from the entrance to carry out Hiruzen's will.

"How much time do we have?" Hiruzen asked sternly.

"Lafayette, old, very powerful. Turning is quick, hours, maybe less. No more than one moon since their death."

Hana felt her stomach plummet at the grim proclamation. It had definitely been a couple of hours at least since she had been at the crime scene of the first two victims. No doubt their corpses had been taken to the morgue, a lightly guarded building. She prayed the ANBU would get there in time.

"What more can you tell us of Lafayette?" the Third asked. "How can we fight him?"

Harry snapped his fingers and clothing appeared on his body. He swung his feet over the side of the bed, standing up and cracking his neck. His feet began to pace, words spilling from his mouth in his own language as he mumbled to himself.

"Lafayette is what my people call a _vampire_. Most think it is a disease that forces the victim to become dependent on the blood of others. For the younger ones, that is that case, strong, fast, but not quite transcending mortality. Only those who live long, take many lives become as strong as Lafayette."

He paused, glancing at the side of Hana's neck. "You are lucky you fought him when you did Inuzaka. Weak from battle with me, or he would have been much stronger. More powerful magics."

"You're saying he had only a fraction of his strength last night?" she asked astonished. The unnatural strength and speed he displayed had been almost overwhelmed her. Even in her beast form transformation she doubted she was physically any stronger than Lafayette.

"He and I fought," Harry replied slowly. "Chased him for a week, fighting all over the world while he ran. He wasted a lot of his energies trying to kill me, and I him. When we came through to this side, he had used much of his reserves. He will be seeking to fill up again. But sloppy. Normally he destroys the body so they do not turn. Too much trouble. People notice, try to hunt him. Something is different. Lafayette has changed."

The Hokage stepped closer. "What of his other abilities? You say he takes the blood of his victims to replenish his own strength?"

"Yes, and more," the dark haired man acknowledged. "Lafayette stores the blood of his victims in his stomach, uses it to heal when wounded. He takes from them not only life, but memories, skills. If a man knows how to cook, Lafayette will learn of all his recipes when he takes his blood. If he is master with a blade, Lafayette will have the skill with weapon."

"Can he learn techniques through blood?" Hana asked alarmed.

Hiruzen's features had taken on a dark turn.

"Yes," Harry replied gravely. "He has no magic reserve of his own, gave up when became blood demon. But older ones learn to take from victims the power in their blood. Why my people fear the elder _vampires_. They grow rapidly in strength with each person they kill. His power will vanish with use, but he can always take from others. This chakra you say, only some people have yes?"

"No," Hiruzen replied quietly. "Chakra is a part of life, one cannot exist without it. Not everyone learns to harness it, but everyone has."

The stranger grimaced. "Well I hope that it is not what I fear it is, or it will be much harder to kill Lafayette."

"What other abilities does he possess?" the Hokage asked.

"In truth, perhaps no one knows for sure but Lafayette himself. Much is rumor, hearsay, stories passed on by scared peasants of days past. I know of his ability to turn the dead, saw it, fought them."

Harry scowled at some distant memory, face twisted in distaste. "Many died, didn't need to. He turned them to slow me down, had to destroy them or it would spread. Messy. Unnecessary"

The raven haired man looked at the elderly shinobi. "His magic is low, used up in fight with me, but if he can retake from victims, there will be many things he is capable of. Almost everything I can do, so can he. But worst, he can pass the curse to others."

"He can create more like him?" Hana demanded alarmed.

Green eyes flickered to her, capturing her own gaze. "Yes. Blood demons can sire others. Pass on blood curse. But must be done willingly. Ritual involves person ingesting his blood."

Hiruzen frowned, tugging on his goatee thoughtfully. "You mentioned earlier that it took many years for Lafayette to become as strong as he has. How much of a danger do these newly cursed _vampires_ pose?"

"Young ones will not have many of his gifts," Harry said after a momentary pause. "They can take blood as he does, heal themselves of wounds. Stronger and faster than humans. Dead feel nothing so body's limits raised. Many years before they learn to steal the magic in blood to add to their own. But the dead victims of even new vampires can turn if not disposed of. Not as strong as turned by Lafayette, but still a dangerous."

Hana tightened her fists at the thought of more of those things running around. It seemed doubly important that they track Lafayette down and kill him as soon as possible. The memory of his mode of retreat suddenly came to mind, reminding her of the unusual jutsu she had witnessed.

"When he ran, he turned into a swarm of bats. Is that another ability of his?" she inquired.

The foreigner grimaced. "Damn, had hoped I imagined that. Yes, there are other abilities _vampires_ are said to have as they grow older. Ability to manipulate shadows, the mind arts, and the dissolve form. Only one other was said to have the ability to take on body of bats, the original cursed one, Dracula. Scatters physical form, takes time to come back together, but almost impossible to kill when in dissolved form. If even one bat escapes, he can resurrect."

The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in frustration. "How much of a danger does he pose?"

Harry turned to face the older man. "Lafayette is doubtless the strongest of his kind. Dracula enslaved an entire nation, warred with dozens of countries and took countless lives. Many of my kind died to finally stop him, and even so, he was never killed, only sealed away. I fear Lafayette will cause as much, if not more trouble for you if he is not stopped."

A poof of smoke announced the arrival of an ANBU the ferret masked woman stepping forward to whisper urgently into the Hokage's ear.

While they conferred, Harry turned to look at Hana, his expression hard to place. "You fought well against Lafayette, even weakened he would have killed many normal people."

The kunoichi lifted her chin proudly. "I am a shinobi of Konoha, one of the soldiers and protectors of my home. If I had been at my full strength perhaps we might not be faced with this problem."

"Doubtful," he grunted with a scowl.

Hana bristled at his dismissive tone. The triplets sensed their mistress's anger and began growling at the man, emulating her ire.

Harry raised his hands in a placating manner when he realized what it must have sounded like. "Apologies, bad word choice. Not a question of your skill, but it is a matter of his dissolve form. Had you proven too much for him, he would have simply turned to bats and fled."

The chunin settled down somewhat, pride soothed by his words. "How are we supposed to kill someone like that?"

Harry frowned. "He cannot constantly dissolve. Stories say Dracula could only do it once every moon cycle. Whether that means it takes one full moon for the ability to be used again or one night of rest is unknown, the records were unclear."

"Has he no weakness?" she asked with a matching frown.

"Few that applies to one as old as he. Sunlight sensitivity is a weakness of newborn _vampires_, also dislike garlic. Older vampires are not as weakened by natural light, and their reaction to garlic is not as great as the young ones. Younger ones cannot cross running water, but I've seen Lafayette do so if reluctantly. Beyond that, you hit him as hard as you can with whatever you can until he no longer heals. That's how you kill him."

Hana nodded. That seemed the best way to handle someone who could regenerate. Hammer them until they stopped getting back up. "You said you chased him for a week?"

Harry scowled fiercely, his handsome features marred by the ugly expression. "Yes, was so close. He was slowing, wounds not healing as quickly, losing strength and magic. I gave him no time to rest, to feed. Chased him day and night. A little more perhaps and I might have killed him. Lafayette had grown soft in times when no one dared attack him, complacent in his own power. Now he will double his efforts to fortify his strength and reach out for allies."

"Where are you from?" Hana asked curiously. "I do not recognize the language that you speak."

The foreign man shrugged. "Not my doing. Chased Lafayette to hall where my people research magic. Destroyed something we shouldn't, next thing I know it felt like my body had been torn to shreds and put back together again. The rest you saw in alley."

Hana nodded. It was a curious thing, perhaps an experimental form of time space transportation gone wrong? They had not explored much beyond the main continent, some speculated that there were lands across the massive ocean that none had dared cross before. Perhaps Harry's home was in one of those far off places in the world, one that spoke a different tongue and had found a different use for chakra.

"We have a problem," the Hokage announced grimly.

The kunoichi's stomach dropped like stone at the dreaded word. When a shinobi said there was a complication, there were usually dead bodies involved. When a shinobi said that there is a problem, chances were that the body count would be climbing exponentially.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hope nobody was waiting for an update while holding their breath…**

Hana led Harry towards the mortuary, occasionally glancing back to make sure the man was keeping up. It was hard to really place exactly where he lay between civilian and shinobi. Physically, he was more fit that any civilian she had ever seen, but whether it was because his injuries had not fully healed or just not quite being at the same level as a ninja, Harry wasn't able to keep up with her pace when she kicked it up to the highest gear.

But on the other hand, that odd ability of his that he kept insisting was magic made him an unknown entity. She couldn't make a judgement on his ability at all, it wasn't like anything she had ever encountered or heard about. He claimed to have fought Lafayette at his full strength in a week long battle, the kind of struggle that legends were made of. Even if he had exaggerated, that strange jutsu of his in the alleyway had proven useful against the _vampire_.

The Hokage had reluctantly released the man's belongings back to him, mainly because they hadn't been able to figure out what to do with it. Searches through the pockets of his odd garment had netted them nothing, and a few people had actually reported being bitten by said pockets when they did a second search.

Weather beaten leather with a scaly sheen not so dissimilar from snake hide had been carelessly thrown on his body, the dark dull sheen of the armor well-worn from constant use. That odd stick of his had been returned (they'd tried putting chakra through it as an experiment and apparently had caused it shoot out sparks but nothing else), and was currently hidden away under a wrist holster that had been a part of his ensemble.

She noticed him surreptitiously taking in the surrounding, his sharp eyes moving to watch the hurried movements of shinobi racing across the rooftops. Hana had opted to lead Harry through the streets, not wanting to risk him falling and hurting himself even though civilian traffic was slowing them down to a crawl in comparison to the speeds she was used to moving at.

"We need to get people off the streets," Harry abruptly warned. "If the outbreak can't be contained, there would be chaos if the turned began attacking people out in the open. We'd be limited in how we can attack in fear of hitting innocent bystanders."

His ability to speak coherently seemed to have improved as he continued to use their language more, now only occasionally stumbling on a word or making the odd grammar mistake. He still had an atrocious accent though, as if he were trying to swallow his tongue while speaking.

"They've quarantined the area," Hana replied calmly. "There's only one corpse that escaped, it's only a matter of time before we track it down. No need to cause panic unnecessarily."

"I've seen these things go bad," Harry shot back with a dark scowl. "All it takes is one mistake, and we'll be dealing with a lot of dead bodies, the kind that don't feel pain and try to rip your face off. Multiply that one by the amount of people you see here and you might begin to imagine why it's such a big problem."

Hana frowned as she was forced to push her way through the market area. She tried to envision what Harry had described to her. An undead body gnashing and biting its teeth, trying to tear into the nearest living flesh it could get its hands on. It could not be reasoned with words, deterred with pain, nor slowed with anything but fatal wounds.

Each person bit would be turned into one of those undead creatures within minutes, adding weight to the momentum of the chaos. People would flee in every direction; some would try to fight, and others hide. Either way, large scale ninjutsu would be out of the question, they would have to kill each infected individually, increasing the risk of shinobi becoming bitten themselves.

"Any bite no matter how small will turn a person you say?" she asked nervously.

Worry and doubt began to creep into her mind. There was an old shinobi saying, if you thought you had the situation handled, that was when you were probably most fucked.

"Yes, it is something passed on in the _vampire's _saliva. The older they are, the more potent it is. For a corpse turned by Lafayette, most likely even a small amount of fluid that enters the body might turn a person. Mucus, saliva, blood. Any bodily liquids."

Hana frowned. That made things a lot more difficult. Most of her more powerful attacks involved ripping her opponent to shreds physically, something that often covered her in their blood. Not something she'd be able to risk in a fight against the turned dead if she didn't want to risk contamination.

"Can it infect animals?" she queried, shooting a worried look at the triplets who were patiently following their master.

"No," Harry replied with a shake of his head. "The disease seems to only affect humans, though there have been some documented cases where other species of simians can be affected to a lesser extent."

The kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief. Well that at least allowed her boys to attack anything that might get loose. She'd just have to stick to playing ranged support rather than lead from the front as she normally preferred. But even so, that left the original problem of undead humans running around turning other living humans into more of the undead.

"And you say all _vampires_ are capable of this, even the ones Lafayette infects?"

Harry scowled as he was jostled by another shopper who had been too busy chasing after his son to watch where he was going. Drawing his stick, he flickered it and muttered something, lighting himself up momentarily.

Hana felt a sudden urge to turn away and leave for home, before he cast something at her as well. Shaking herself, she stared at him. "What did you do?"

"Just a simple _muggle_ repelling charm, seems to work on you lot though not as effectively as on _muggles."_ Harry waved a hand at a passing woman and she turned in other direction to avoid contact. "Stay close to me, should make moving in this crowd easier."

And indeed it did. An invisible corridor just wide enough to fit two people seem to open up wherever they stepped, the people around them going out of their way to avoid getting too close to Harry. Hana wondered if that odd urge to leave had been the results of that spell of his. She glanced down at her dogs, but the boys seemed unbothered by the odd aura, though they peered and sniffed at the strange man curiously.

"But back to your question," Harry said as they made better time through the crowd. "Yes and no. Vampire victims who die will turn into the infected, but the time it takes to turn and the rate of infection differs on their strength."

They finally cleared the overcrowded pre-lunch markets, turning down a street that would take them to their destination.

"A young vampire's victim would take probably days before they resurrect, by which time rigor mortis will have set and made them shamble at a pace even a child could defeat, hardly a threat," the wizard continued. "Rates of transfer of the younger ones disease is weaker, often times nothing short of a person physically dying from a wound while infected will turn them, and even then it takes a couple of days for them to reanimate. The older the vampire, the faster the body rises, and the more infectious the turned ones are."

Hana noticed that there were almost no people in sight, no doubt ANBU had taken the precaution to usher away any civilians while they searched for the last body turned by Lafayette. If there was an outbreak, hopefully they'd be able to contain it before it spread.

"You say they are impervious to pain, even the sorts that usually kills people, so how do we kill them?"

Harry panted as they picked up the pace. "Their mind may no longer register pain, but their bodies are still controlled by the central nervous system. Trauma to the head is usually the easiest way to put them down, though enough damage to the body will render them still as well."

"Aim for the head, got it. You hear that guys?" Her dogs barked their understanding.

The wizard raised an eyebrow. "I take it the dogs aren't your average house pets?"

Hana bared her teeth in a vicious smile. "Something like that."

They arrived at the clinic, though oddly there was no one guarding the entrance. Harry drew his wand again with a flick of his wrist, his eyes scanning the area attentively.

"Not good. Shouldn't there be guards?" he asked.

The kunoichi frowned. Indeed there should be, which suggested either they had located the body and were all called away to engage it, or…well she didn't want to think about the second possibility yet.

Hana moved to open the door, but was halted by Harry's hand on her shoulder.

"Better let me take the lead," he said with a serious expression. "I'm immune to the turning, I won't have to worry about getting bitten."

"I thought you said anyone bit became infected?" the chunin asked confused. "There are those who are resistant?"

"I'm somewhat of a special case," he murmured, pushing the doorway open and poking his head inside.

He gestured for them to follow, but did not clarify on his statement. Hana would have probed further, but the fresh blood streak on the floor pushed her query aside. There was a lot of it, and what appeared to be bloodied footprints leading further into the building. At least three sets.

"Not good," Harry repeated. "We must find and destroy those bodies swiftly. Before they can spread further."

A flick of his wand and the entrance slammed shut. He made an X motion with the piece of wood, muttering a phrase under his breath. The doorway glowed briefly before returning to normal.

"What did you do?" she asked curiously.

"Basic door ward. Won't be able to open without breaking it down. Should keep the turned inside while we deal with them. Unless someone makes a lot of noise on the other side to attract their attention, undead generally don't try to break through physical barriers they encounter."

The moved past the lobby area, bypassing the abandoned security check point. Following the bloody footprints, they moved swiftly through the building, pausing at each room to check for signs of anyone alive or otherwise. Harry would pause briefly after each check to make the same ward over the doorway to prevent anything from getting in.

They cleared the entire ground floor of the building without finding anything, or indeed anyone. Hana was grimly aware of the fact the ANBU were more likely to die than to abandon their post, so the fact that they hadn't run into any of the masked shinobi meant that they were most probably dead.

The Hokage hadn't mentioned exactly how many Special Forces member he had sent to safeguard the morgue, but if Hana had to hazard a guess than at least an entire squad to cover a building of this size. That meant a good twelve operatives that were MIA, not to mention any staff member that might have been on site. Hopefully they had been evacuated, but it was always better to err on the side of worst case scenario rather than be surprised by being optimistic.

A dark stairwell greeted them as they prepared to head underground. Hana tried the light switch but got no response from them, the corridor leading down remaining stubbornly dark.

"I thought you said the undead are supposed to be mindless," she said slowly.

"They are," Harry replied grimly. "Cutting power usually requires a little more brains than the reanimated can handle."

They considered the ominous darkness before them. Her dogs began to whine softly, signaling their dislike of what lay ahead.

"We should probably go back outside and level the building," Hana suggested.

"I'd be all for that if it were just the regular undead," Harry agreed. "But I'm not leaving one Lafayette changed to chance. If that thing escapes, it could restart this whole nightmare."

The tip of his wand lit up with a pale white light that allowed them to see clearly a couple of yards ahead of them, but no more.

"It will be dangerous," the wizard warned gently. "You need not come. This is a problem that comes from my world, perhaps it would be fitting that I take care of it."

Hana straightened her spine, turning a steely gaze to meet green eyes. "I'm a soldier of Konoha, it's my duty to protect my home from all threats."

Harry gave her a searching look, before smiling. "_Once more into the breach."_

Together, kunoichi and wizard plunged into the darkness without hesitation.

**AN: Let me know what you guys think. I love hearing back from the readers **


	8. Chapter 8

Hana had never been a fan of the morgue, there was something very unsettling about a facility specifically designed for keeping the honored dead before burial. While the ground floor smelled of the clean clinical scent of overzealous sterilization procedures not unlike the hospital, once underground there was nothing but the stench of death and decay.

The ghostly light produced by the tip of the wooden stick held in Harry's hand cast barely enough illumination to see more than a few feet ahead of them as they fumbled their way forward in the darkness. The pale light cast odd shadows, turning everyday objects like desks and chairs into ominous shapes that caused the hair to rise on the back of Hana's neck.

Her dogs prowled just at the edge of the lights, snuffling and growling with irritation. Their uneasiness was telling. They sensed something ahead in the darkness, but were too well trained to go charging forward and leave their mistress unprotected.

The kunoichi held a single kunai in each hand in a reverse grip hold, eyes darting about between shadows trying to spot anything unusual. It was not Hana's style to stick back and provide ranged support and it made her uncomfortable not to be leading from the front as her instincts were screaming at her to do.

Inuzuka excelled at close combat, it was hammered into their heads since they were old enough to understand words and was practically imprinted in their blood. Hanging back and playing the support was working her nerves worse than having to face off against this supernatural foe they were hunting.

Suddenly the trio stiffened, their hackles raised up in agitation as they slowly edged closer to Hana, forming a wedge shaped perimeter to keep her shielded from whatever was ahead of them. Harry himself had come to a halt, his hand slowly reaching down into a pocket on his armor.

"Get ready," he murmured.

An odd noise had been echoing in the eerily quiet underground floor for a while, something she had immediately noticed when they entered but had become desensitized to. For the first time she could clearly hear it, the soft rustle of shifting cloth, the occasional patter of bare skin on cold tile and the unfamiliar sound of wet tearing that made her skin crawl to simply hear.

Harry took a step forward, his stance absolutely tense, and the edge of the light crept forward just enough to catch the edge of a dark pool of fresh blood. The ruby red liquid quivered as something in it moved. Hana grit her teeth, her hands tightening on the handle of the knives until she could feel the cold metal dig past her calluses to chill heated flesh.

The foreigner took another careful step, the radius of the light inching forward enough to catch a bare foot coated with sticky red fluid. It quivered and trembled, doing a jerky dance as the unsettling noise continued.

A bead of sweat crawled slowly down Hana's neck. Her sensitive skin, flush from tension, quivered at the passage of what felt like ice water as it slid down her numb back.

Harry flicked his wand, the mote of light leaping from the tip to hang overhead in the ceiling like a star brought down to earth. It would have almost been pretty had she been paying attention to it, but the grisly sight before her held her eyes in absolute captivation.

There were three of them crouched over the corpse. Hana couldn't even bring herself to think of them as humans anymore. Their skin had turned an unhealthy shade of yellow, their eyes milky white and unseeing. Fingernails were chipped and broken, what little of their cuticles that remained dyed with gore as they greedily tore at the corpse with eager hands, forcing fistfuls of blood red meat into their mouths.

The desecrated corpse had been a woman at one point if the Inuzuka had to hazard a guess, but with the face gone and most the flesh stripped from her stomach and chest the only clue that gave away her gender was what was left of the skirt around her waist. But damaged as the body was, much to Hana's disbelieving horror, she could see that the top half was still twitching and moving, trying to get up. Even half destroyed, the reanimated corpse was still struggling to move, muscles twitching endlessly as severed tendons failed to respond to commands for motion.

The kunoichi felt her throat close at the monstrous scene before her, only the grit of having seen the devastating aftermath of more than one battlefield keeping her from emptying her stomach. Everything inside her screamed at her to flee the grotesque scene, perhaps a primal part of her brain awakening to warn her of the presence of predators who sought to devour her.

Hana steeled her spine, forcing her trembling leg to still. She would not run. She would not flee. She knew now that Harry had not been exaggerating the dangers of the turned. If even one of these things got loose on the surface, the stomach churning scene before her would be replicated a hundred times over. She would not let that happen to her home, not while she still breathed.

As one, the three undead turned and stared at the group before them, their movement halting in disquieting unison. Unseeing eyes stared at the two humans and growling dogs as if trying to pierce a veil of fog. A terrible scream, high pitched and grating to the ear sounded from the revived corpse closest to them, it's mouth unhinged wide to show bloodied tongue and teeth. The sound seemed to galvanize the monsters into a single burst of motion.

Harry withdrew his right hand from his pocket, smoothly drawing out a gleaming blade with ruby encrusted hilt in a lightning fast motion. The first undead leaping at him ran head first into the blade, in the most literal fashion possible. Sharp steel punched through the skull of the former mortuary employee like hot knife through butter, ending the unfortunate creature's movements in one neat motion.

Hana let loose with her two kunai, piercing one of the charging creatures through its eye socket and tearing out part of its cheek as one of the projectiles found its way into its gnashing mouth. The corpse stumbled, but managed to remain standing. The kunoichi swore and reached for more kunai.

Her dogs had leapt forward and intercepted the last of the reanimated bodies. Powerful snapping canine jaws caught onto both hands and a leg, the crunch of splintering bones mixing in with the horrid wailing from the creature. Between the three powerfully built nin-dogs, limbs were wrenched out of their sockets, twisting unnaturally as bones broke and joints bent. A few more vicious shakes and the undead found itself collapsing to the floor, unable to stand on only one leg. Its movements ceased altogether when Kurobara, the oldest of the trio, clamped his fierce jaw over its skull and cracked it like a nut.

The kunoichi channeled wind nature chakra over her blade, before sending the weapon flying forward, the enhanced coating tearing off the top half of her target's head. Even as it fell to the ground with half its face missing, the monstrosity continued struggling to move, limbs clawing its body forward with awkward coordination.

Her eyes flickered over to her companion, noting that he had already freed his blade and had been watching her, perhaps judging to see if she could be trusted to watch his back. Certainly it would have been what she would have done.

Hana stared back defiantly at his probing gaze, earning herself a half amused smile that twisted into a small grimace as he wiped the blood off his blade.

"Not bad," he said blandly.

Harry flicked his wrist, sending a pair of jagged spikes shooting out from his wand to impale the half eaten corpse's skull and chest, ending its feeble movements with a wet thud. Unerring howls echoed in the dimly lit passageway, causing both humans to turn and stare at the closed doorway some paces away.

"Sounds like they have friends," Hana said grimly. The rapid beat of running feet could be heard intermingled with the periodic screams of the undead.

"It's a building filled with dead bodies," Hana said darkly. "If they turned even half the corpses in here we could be in big trouble."

There were too many pounding feet for even her sensitive hearing to distinguish between which meant they would be facing a much bigger crowd then the trio they had just dispatched.

Sending two kunai with lit explosive tags into the doorway, the kunoichi managed to glimpse at what felt like hundreds of hungry faces before the timed explosions tore apart the front ranks.

"_Bombarda!" _Harry howled, adding his own explosive power into the mix, the whole building shaking from his attack.

"Can you summon fire?!" Hana demanded as her hands raced through a dozen seals.

"Yes!" he bellowed back as he sent another explosion through the dust covered entrance in an attempt to slow down the stampeding herd of bodies.

"Do it!" she screamed, inhaling deeply at the end of the chain of hand sequences.

Hana had been one of the rare few leaf shinobi who had been gifted with the wind element. Considered to be the war element of the five types, there were unfortunately few known techniques that she could learn from in Konoha. Suna was the country that produced the most wind users, but though they were allies there was little shared in the form of ninjutsu.

Still she had managed picked up one or two from different shinobi, and currently she was pushing all of her chakra into a rather simple but rarely lethal technique. _Wind Tunnel _was extremely broad in its area of effect, a great gust of wind exploding forth from the user's mouth that could push people back for more than a quarter of a mile if the person had the chakra capacity for it.

Though the area it could target was vast, the wind itself had little bite to it. Any shinobi worth their salt could recover from being tossed backwards, it was meant more as a delaying tactic than anything else, or a means to separate comrades during an ambush. The one way it could be deadly was if there was someone else who could add fire to the equation.

Luckily for her, Harry was just that someone.

For a moment Hana swore she saw the flames he conjured take on the visage of a demonic face, a twisted form that screamed hate and demanded violence. In a blink the stream of fire from his wand leapt into the coil of wind she was channeling through the doorway, exploding forth from a steady rivulet into a blinding torrent that caused their skin to dry and crackle from just being near it. With nowhere to go underground, the wind fed flames poured into the passageway, sweeping through the empty corridors and filling each room before them in a great cleansing wave.

As her breath finally gave out, the overpowering smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils, causing her to flinch and cover her nose. Her three dogs were still pacing eagerly before her, protective of their owner as they watched the entrance with beady eyes.

Harry whistled as he examined the blackened and burnt corridor. "That's a crazy combo there. I think you might have just solved most our problems."

Hana felt her knee give out as exhaustion crept in, her vison turning gray for a moment. A strong arm caught her around the waist before she fell flat on her face, Harry's concerned expression filling her narrowed vision.

"Hana!"

"I'm fine," she slurred. "Just used up a bit too much juice."

She reached out a trembling hand to run over the head of her dogs who had come close to crowd her, snuffling and whining in worry. The kunoichi felt herself being lowered gently to the ground and mumbled incoherently in gratitude.

Hana fumbled through the supply pouch she kept at her waist, heavy fingers searching for the soldier pills she kept with her for such occasions.

"Here, let me," Harry said, gently removing her trembling hands from the pouch. "What are you looking for?"

The chunin silently marveled at how soft his hands felt, the sensation of skin on skin sending a slight shiver down her spine.

"Red pills. Give me two."

There was the rustle of cloth and Hana tried hard to focus on staying awake. The wet rasping tongue of Hayama, the youngest of the trio helped. She couldn't afford to pass out from chakra exhaustion right now.

By the time she felt the hard bitter pills in her mouth, she barely had the strength left to chew. The medicinal boost invented by the slug sannin was almost instantaneous in its effects. Strength returned to her limbs and her vision cleared. Hana sat up, flushing slightly as she realized that Harry still had his arm wrapped around her waist.

"That must be some good stuff," he said, eyebrows raised.

He rolled one of the little red pills in his free hand, staring down at the orb in curiosity. Raising it up to eye level, he gave it an inquisitive sniff. Hana foresaw what would happen next and manage to snatch it away from the foreigner before he could put it in his mouth.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed with a childish pout. "I was going to try that!"

"Idiot!" Hana snapped. "That's why I took it from you!"

Harry huffed with a petulant expression on his face. "I was curious what it tasted like."

"Soldier pills are emergency energy bolsters," the kunoichi lectured him as she wiggled out of his grip and stood. "You take them in proportion to how much chakra you have, and even with the right dosage there are some nasty side effects once they wear out. We don't even know if what you use is chakra!"

"I doubt it will kill me," the wizard snorted. "I've got injected with one of the deadliest venoms in the world when I was a child, my reward for surviving that gave was a natural resistance to even the most potent of poisons."

Before Hana could form her retort, a noise startled both of them into silence. She noted with alarm that her boys were acting rather meek, ears flattened against their skulls, whining and pushing to stand behind one another. That was definitely not a good sign.

The sound of bare feet dragging across the tile floor echoed oddly, a short rasping gasp sounding from beyond the edge of the light.

Harry had both is wand and sword in hand, his eyes narrowed as he glared into the darkness. The kunoichi armed herself with a kunai, carefully weaving wind chakra over the tiny blade, patiently waiting for whatever had survived their onslaught to show itself.

From the gloom a pair of burnt feet appeared. The sight of blackened and charred flesh was enough to cause a lurch of discomfort in her stomach, but she bit back the bile that oozed into her mouth. Slowly the body shuffled into view.

Hana could not help but stare, her mouth suddenly very dry despite the bitter taste on her tongue. The body had suffered what would have been third degree burns on a human, but didn't appeared too bothered by the injuries despite the fluids weeping out of open wounds. Her face was intact enough to be recognizable. It had been the woman they had found in the alleyway with the headless corpse of her lover.

Her skin had turned nearly translucent white where it was undamaged, thick black poisonous veins spread across her flesh like thin spider webs. She was completely naked, her breasts swinging freely with each step, long black hair hanging down from her head like mournful drapes, hands held limply at her sides. Instead of the milky white eyes of the turned, hers were bloodshot to the point where almost no white could be seen at all, the iris had turned into a midnight pitch that stared out soullessly at the world.

A long red tongue slithered out of her mouth, running itself over ruined black lips, exposing razor sharp teeth that had replaced what had been human molars just hours prior. Her head tilted to the side at an odd angle and a soft groan resonated from deep inside her chest.

"It hurts," the corpse croaked painfully, its voice like a thousand fingernails racking down a rusty chalkboard. "Why does it hurt?"

She clutched at her stomach, hunching over as if struck by a deep agony.

"**IT HURTS!"**

Hana barely had time to react, instinctively hurling her weapon at the unexpected blitz from the corpse. A burnt hand flickered upwards, batting aside the projectile. The turned woman didn't even slow down despite having her hand split down the middle almost to her wrist.

A pair of heavy metal spikes shot out from the tip of Harry's wand, but the corpse dodged nimbly, rebounding off the side wall and somehow attaching itself to the ceiling, scuttling forward like some demented spider, shrieking loud enough to wake the dead all the while.

It continued to weave and dodge as Hana joined the wizard in trying to impale the fast moving body. Periodically it would retreat outside the radius of the light, forcing them to react whenever she came charging back out of the darkness at some unexpected angle.

Again and again they played the game, trying desperately to hit the corpse and force it back before it could get within striking distance. The three dogs paced before the humans in agitation, barking harshly whenever the corpse showed itself but hanging back.

Suddenly Harry changed his tactics. Making a figure eight motion with his wand tip, he sent a whip of fire outward into the darkness, burning a scorching trail across the ceiling and flooring wherever the flame hit.

The corpse charged, jaws unhinged and hanging low in a grotesque display of its now inhuman physique. The wizard twisted his wrist, managing to wrap the ends of the flame around the creature's ankle.

With a violent tug of his wand, he sent the undead slamming into the floor hard enough to leave cracks before jerking it sideways into the wall. Again and again he whipped the body with enough force to break bones and crush organs. Finally, the corpse stilled

Hana shuddered as she stared at what was left of the husk of a woman. The left leg where the flame whip had snared it was burnt to a crisp, muscle melted all the way down to charred marrow. Here and there were wounds from where her kunai and shuriken had managed to score hits, hundreds of cuts weeping blackened blood. Her neck was bent at an odd angle, broken from the force of the wizard's attack, her back twisted into an unnatural placement that would have killed a human in seconds.

The trio prowled warily at a distance, growling softly at the unmoving body.

"Is it dead?"

Harry didn't turn his eyes away from the body at her nervous question.

"One way to be sure," he growled, marching forward purposefully with the sword raised.

It happened so fast Hana had no time to react.

One moment the wizard had been closing in on the body and the next he was sent flying backwards, the corpse biting violently into his shoulder, its good hand wrapped tightly around his throat.

Harry let out a strangled yell, his wand dropped from nerveless fingers due to the teeth chewing through the nerves of his shoulder. Hana rushed forward slamming a balled fist into the back of the corpses head repeatedly, trying to get the monstrosity off her companion.

She could feel bone giving way under her hits, but still the undead creature clung on. Harry gamely pushed back at the body, lifting his sword enough to cut the creatures remaining hand off. Without leverage, they were able to pry the biting body off him where he promptly severed the woman's head from the body, finally putting it down for good.

Hana hurriedly attempted to apply first aid to the bleeding wizard with hands that trembled with adrenaline. His pale face was an indication of how much blood he had lost, but the man waved her off with little care. Although she couldn't help but feel worried seeing the massive wound on his neck, a part of her couldn't help but gape down in fascination as his body slowly began to mend itself as it had in the hospital.

"Still off my game," the wizard grumbled unhappily. "Can't believe that thing got the jump on me!"

"Most people would be dead with a wound like that," the kunoichi noted dryly. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A direct victim of Lafayette that got turned. You'll notice it was nothing like the other corpses we fought?"

"It spoke for one thing," Hana said with a shudder. "She was very much dead when I last saw her. Such a thing shouldn't be possible. It's unnatural."

The wizard stood up, finally recovered enough to move about again. "We need to find Lafayette. This is going to seem like a milk run if we don't catch him before he feeds again."

Hana grimaced, imaging dozens of those things running around. A jounin probably could take one on, but to do so without injury was a feat only a rare few could pull off. Things would get ugly fast if they didn't nip the problem at the bud.

"Well what are we waiting for?" she demanded. "Let's go get the bastard."

**AN: Hello, been a while hasn't it? Leave a review and let me know what you think. **


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